Hat sizing, hardening, and starting machine.



PATENTED JUNE 12, 1906 W. H. B EHRENS. HAT SIZING, HARDENING, AND STARTING MACHINE.

APPLICATION FILED MAR. 14, 1905.

3 SEBETSBHEET 1.

INVENTOR WITNESSES ATTORNEY ANDREW. a, (mum 20.. PHO O-LIYNDGRAPHiRS. WASWNEYDN. n. a

PATBNTED JUNE 12, 1906. I

W. H. BEHRENS. HAT SIZING, HARDBNING; AND STARTING MACHINE.

APPLICATION FILED MAR. 14, 1905.

3 SHEETS-SHEET 2.

INVENTOR WITNESSES:

monzw, a, alumna cu. FNOYO-UTRDGRAPHIERS, WASHINGYDN, 0 c.

PATENTED JUNE 12, 1906.

APPLIOATION ILED MAR.14. 1905.

3 SHEETS-SHEET 3.

INVENTOR WITNESSES ATTORNEY,-

monaw. a. GRAMAM no, PHOTO-LIIHUGRAPNERS. WASNINGTON. u. c.

To all whom it may concern:

UNITED STATES PATENT oFFIon.

WILLIAM H. BEHRENS, OF NEWARK, NEW JERSEY.

HAT SIZING, HARDENING, AND STARTING MACHINE.

Specification of Letters Patent.

Patented June 12, 1906.

Application filed March 14, 1905. Serial No. 249,976.

Be it known that I, WILLIAM H. BEHRENS, a citizen of the United States, residing at Newark, in the county of Essex and State of New Jersey, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in Hat Sizing, Hardening, and Starting Machines; and I do hereby declare the followin to be a full, clear, and exact description of the invention, such as will enable others skilled in the art to which it appertains to make and use the same, reference being had to the accompanying drawings, and to numerals of reference marked thereon, which form a part of this specification.

The objects of this invention are to secure an improved hat sizing, hardening, and starting machine; to secure a gentle and uniform pressure upon the hats, so as to not crease them; to enable such pressure upon the bundle of hats to be regulated as desired; to enable the bundle of hats to be raised out of the liquid for removing it from the machine; to secure a simple and cheap construction, and to obtain other advantages and results, some of which may be referred to hereinafter in connection with the description of the working parts.

The invention consists in the improved hat sizing, hardening, and starting mechine and in the arrangements and combinations of parts of the same, all substantially as will be hereinafter set forth and finally embraced in the clauses of the claim.

Referrin to the accompanying drawings, in which 1' e numerals of reference indicate corresponding parts in each of the several figures, Figure 1 is a transverse vertical section of my improved machine as upon line 00, Fig. 4. Fig. 2 is a detail end view of a certain roller-bracket or supporting-frame. Fig. 3 is a transverse vertical section similar to Fig. 1 and showing the pressure-belt raised out of the liquid for receiving or removing a bundle of hats. Fig. 4 is a vertical section of my improved machine, taken longitudinally of the rollers on line y, Fig. 1; and Figs. 5 and 6 are details in side and ed e elevation, respectively, of a portion of t e pressure-belt.

In said drawings, 2 indicates a tank adapt ed to contain any well-known liquid in which the bundle of hats is to be sized, and above said tank extends a frame 3 to support the working parts of my improved apparatus. In the said frame 3 is mounted a horizontal transverseshaft 4, adapted to be driven by any suitable means, (not shown,) and upon the said shaft 4 is fixed, as by a set-screw 5,

a drum 6. Said drum is longitudinally,

liquid-tank 2, the bundle of hats is to be placed so that it lies between the two folds of the belt, as indicated at 27 in the drawings. Said bundle is therefore kept in continual motion by the movement of the belt and is at the same time subjected to the pressure of the said folds of the belt.

The rods 9 of the pressure-belt are connected at their ends by chains 10, each of which is composed of links 11, one link for each rod 9, the said link being apertured, as at 12, to receive the reduced end 13 of the rod, and having at its opposite sides tongues or ears 14 15 to engage the next adjacent links. The reduced ends 13 of the rods 9 are extended beyond the said chains and enter recesses 16 in the peripheral edges of plates 17, mounted, as by screws 28, or otherwise fixed upon the ends of the drums. The ends of the drums are furthermore annularly recessed, as at 18, adjacent to the said plates 17 to receive the chains 10 and hold the same from lateral movement.

Upon the shaft 4 is pivoted a supporting frame or bracket 20, which is in the form of a bail and provided at one end with a handle 21 for swinging upon the said shaft 4, the other ends of the two arms 19 of said bracket providing bearings for a shaft 22, which extends parallel to the shaft 4. This shaft 22 carries a drum 23, which is in all respects similar to the drum 6 upon the shaft 4 and is adapted to engage the pressure-belt in precisely the same way.

In the normal operation of the machine the supporting frame or bracket 20 stands in vertical position, as shown in Fig. 1, so that the second drum 23 lies directly beneath the first drum 6 and does not separate the two folds of the pressure-belt 8. The bracket 20 I have shown held in this position by means of a notched lever 24, pivoted upon the frame 3 and engaging a pin 25 upon the bracket. In this position of parts the bundle of hats is sized between the pressure-belt folds and subchine.

ject to the pressure thereof. The opposite folds tend to press by gravity inward against the bundle or roll, and thus facilitate the desired felting or sizing of the hat. When the sizing is finished, the supporting frame or bracket is swung through ninety degrees into a horizontal position, which raises the bundle of hats out of the liquid in the tank 2 and at the same time separates the folds of the belt 8, so that easy access is provided to the said bundle for removing it from the ma- Furthermore, if at any time it is desired to lessen the pressure exerted by the folds of the belt 8 upon the bundle of hats the frame or bracket 20 may be swung slightly out of vertical position, so that its two drums slightly separate the folds of the belt, as will be understood. Additional notches or recesses 26 are provided in the lever 24 for this purpose, and thus the pressure exerted upon,

the hats in my machine may be regulated at will.

Obviously various modifications of detail construction may be made in building my and a flexible endless pressure-belt suspended from said drum, and having a free lower part located near the bottom of said tank and a swinging frame carrying a second drum, the latter being arranged within said pressure-belt.

2. In ahat-sizing machine, the combination with a tank ada ted to contain .liquid, of a drum mounted orizontally above said tank and a flexible endless belt hung over said drum and comprisin parallel'rods disposed transversely of the elt and connected at their opposite ends, and a swinging drum arranged below the first said drum within said belt and adapted to separate the folds of said endless belt and raise the lower part thereof out of the sizing fluid of the tank, and means for supporting the drum and swinging it between the folds of the belt.

3. In a hat-sizing machine, the combination with the tank, of a shaft arranged horizontally above said tank, a bracket or frame adapted to swing on said shaft and carrying at one side thereof a second shaft parallel to the first, drums upon the said shafts, and

an endless flexible pressure-belt extending around both said drums and adapted to dip into the tank.

4. In a hat-sizing machine, the combinaa frame extending above said tank and adapted to support-the working parts,.a drum mounted on said frame above said tank, a flexible, endless pressure-belt hung over said drum and having its opposite folds extend directly down from the opposite sides of said drum into said tank, and means also arranged above said tank and between the folds of said belt adapted to further separate the folds and raise the lower part of the belt out from the liquidof the tank, substantially as set forth. I

5. In a hat-sizing machine,

over said drum, a second drum normally lying beneath the first-mentioned drum the same vertical plane therewith, andmeans for swinging one of said drums with respect to the other out ofsaid vertical plane.

6. In ahat-sizing machine, the combination of a horizontal drum having annular recesses at its ends and longitudinal grooves between said recesses, a pressure-belt with lateral chains adapted to, lie in said recesses and transverse rods lying in said grooves, the reduced ends of said rods projecting through and beyond said chains, end plates-upon the drum peripherally notched to receive said extremities of the transverserods, and means for rotating said drum.

7. In a hat-sizing machine, the combination with a tank ada ted to contain liquidfor submerging albund e of hats, of a rotatable member disposed substantially horizontally above said (tank, and a flexible endless pressure-belt hung over said member and adapt-l ed, at a substantially vertical portion ofits free lower end, to gravitate against a bundle of hats, and means inserted between the-folds of said belt to spread or separate said folds and raise the lower the tank. I

8. In a hat-sizing machine, the combination with a tank adapted to contain liquidfor submerging a bundle of hats, ofa rotatable member disposed substantially horizontally above said tank and a flexible endless pres: sure-belt hung over said member and having its lower part free and adapted to gravitate inwardly against a bundle of hats, and a drum arranged beneath the first said member and above said tank, and a pivoted frame for supporting said drum.

9. In a hat-sizing machine, the combination with a tank, of a frame extending above said tank, a rotary member horizontally disposed above said tank on said frame, a flexile endless pressure-belt hung over said rotar y member and dropping therefrom into the tank by gravity, a second member paralpart out of the liquid of a horizontallydisposed drum, an endless pressure-belt hung i lel to the first and also extending through the belt and lying normally immediately beneath the first said member, and means for shifting the location of the second member to vary the angular position of the plane'in which said members lie and thus spread or separate one fold of the belt farther from the other and raise the lower part of the belt out of the sizing liquid.

10. In a hat-sizing machine, the combination with a tank, of a rotary member horizontally disposed above said tank, a flexible endless pressure-belt hung over said rotary member, a second rotary member parallel to the first and also extending through the belt and normally lying immediately beneath said In testimony that I claim the foregoing I I 5 have hereunto set my March, 1905.

WILLIAM H. BEHRENS.

Witnesses:

THOS. P. OREILLY, RUssELL M. EVERETT.

hand this 4th day of 

